Hello From Northamptonshire

[Georgeypudding 1]

Hi all!

I thought I should introduce myself before I jump in and start learning.

I am Georgina (or George!) and very much animal mad, we have 4 cats (and I have fostered around 20 cats and kittens) a dog, 2 rabbits and a wee hamster. All our animals are rescued, a few with problems (a blind rabbit, a cat with an amputation, and another with liver cirrhosis) but very much loved no matter what!

Recently I was asked to take on a pair of Zebra Finches by a friend. She has an indoor aviary with finches in, supposedly all male but my 2 chicks are proof that someone is a girl! Unfortunately some chicks fell or were pushed out of their nests, around 6 chicks in total I believe and so they were hand raised. Only 2 survived, the others passing away before they were old enough to be reintroduced to the adults. They are now about 6 months old so I am hoping they're past the most risky time of life and will thrive from now on! Back to why they are coming to me, my friend has recently had a massive spate of asthma attacks (12 in one day at a point) triggered by the birds and cigarette smoke so is trying to reduce her numbers but wanted the hand raised chicks to be kept within the "family" and asked me to take them knowing I am a pushover!

I have no idea what sexes they are (I believe one to be male) or the terms for their colouring but here is a photo of them from August.

The 2 chicks coming to me are the white chick facing the camera and the grey stood facing the right. (hope the photo isn't too big!)

Picture Removed, Please read the rules, these birds are in very poor condition.

I know very little about bird care as I have never kept birds before, but extreamly willing to learn!

[Emmy 528]

Hi Georgina,

Not sure from your post how long you have had the birds, but I'm sure members here will be very willing to tell you what is required to keeep your birds healthy and happy. Although I've been handrearing some chicks recently its definately not the road to take if the birds can be with their parents. I hope other members will chip in here and add some more information for you if I miss anything out.

They must have a decent size cage and it must be cleaned regularly. There's lots of things that can be put on the floor of their cage to make this an easy task. I line the bottom of the cage with wallpaper lining paper,and I use a spray bottle of 'Johnston's clean and safe' (can be bought from a pet store),to clean the cage when changing the paper and cleaning the bottom of the cages.

I offer mine the following food:

Foreign finch seed, panicum seed, moist egg food with honey(the honey is in the mix when bought) millet spray, iodine block, oyster shell grit with occasionally a little charcoal in it, cuttlefish and cress The husks from the seeds have to be blown from the seed dish daily and they must have access to fresh water at all times. I also give mine access to a bird bath fixed to the cage door - they love that.

Hope this helps you to understand their needs.

Emmy

[suem 0]

Hi, I am from Northampton myself. Whereabouts are you?